Carpet staff floored by £6,500 water bill

STAFF at a carpet shop were stunned after being landed with a £6,500 water bill for their first fortnight in business. Manager Susan Benson thought it was a joke when she opened the letter from United Utilities saying her GSG Carpet Factory Shop needed to pay £6,558.74 to cover charges between 31 March and 14 April.

STUNNED ... factory shop manager Susan Benson with her water bill for £6,558.

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STAFF at a carpet shop were stunned after being landed with a £6,500 water bill for their first fortnight in business.

Manager Susan Benson thought it was a joke when she opened the letter from United Utilities saying her GSG Carpet Factory Shop needed to pay £6,558.74 to cover charges between 31 March and 14 April.

She challenged the monster demand, but claims United Utilities chiefs told her they could not re-estimate the bill for two months and instead recommended she paid up and claimed back any overpayments at a later date.

But Mrs Benson, aged 53, says she is unable to afford to cover the costs and has no idea why the business, based at the former Ryalux site in Ensor Mill, Castleton, was hit with the ‘extortionate’ bill.

She said: "At first it seemed funny and we thought it must be a mistake, but when we realised the bill was genuine we were really angry.

"It’s my first business and it has already given me a few sleepless nights, so this has made it even worse.

"We can’t pay the bill and we don’t want to be seen as a bad debtor.

"We’ve literally got a sink and two toilets, but from the size of this bill you’d have thought we were running a swimming pool.

"Only five of us work here and I joked that we’d have to limit our brews and could only use the toilet once a day to save money.

"I’m furious with United Utilities because I feel that it doesn’t care and doesn’t realise the stress this has caused."

Helen Wilson, of United Utilities, told the Observer that the company had made a blunder and apologised to Mrs Benson.

She added: "We’re very sorry for any inconvenience this has caused.

"The bill was wrongly calculated and we have now cancelled the charges and a correct bill will be sent out.

"The matter should have been resolved when the customer first called us and we will be adding a £50 credit to the account as our way of saying sorry."